Swindon Rotary has passed more than £1 million in total support for local charities and causes after its centenary charity ball drew nearly 200 guests to the Doubletree by Hilton Swindon.

The club marked its 100th year with the annual ball, which featured entertainment from the Tanwood School of Performing Arts and a performance by the Drum Waiters. This year’s event had a single beneficiary: Swindon’s Society Without Abuse, a group the club has backed for nearly 30 years.

Kate Rowland said fundraising events like the ball were “so incredibly valuable to charities” and said the money raised would make “a massive difference” to people in Swindon who are experiencing or recovering from domestic abuse. She added that the club’s continued support meant a great deal to vulnerable individuals and families across the town.

For Society Without Abuse, the cheque comes at a moment when demand for its work remains tied to the day-to-day reality of domestic abuse in Swindon. The organisation works to end abuse through education, intervention and prevention, supporting women, men and children across the town, and Swindon Rotary has previously funded improvements at the charity’s former refuge as well as resources for survivors.

That long-running relationship is part of a wider record. The charity ball, launched in 1989, has now supported more than 100 charities and community organisations, while Swindon Rotary says its own fundraising since 1926 has reached many millions of pounds. The club also marked the centenary with the publication of Rotary Club of Swindon Centenary Book 1926-2026.

Richard Deacon said the club had raised many millions locally, nationally and internationally since its inception in 1926, while helping make Swindon a better place over the years. He said those who founded the club would be proud to see it still going strong after 100 years. The scale of this year’s ball shows why: the club is not just celebrating its past, but still using it to deliver money where it is needed now.

For readers in Swindon, the latest milestone lands alongside other reminders of the town’s public life, from community fundraising to local history and even the return of interest in James Bond street names that bring Swindon’s film link back into view. But the key fact from the centenary ball is simpler: the club has now crossed £1 million in support, and this year’s money is going directly to people living with domestic abuse.